Chinese ship: PMK urges Centre to beef up security

CHENNAI: Citing the docking of Chinese spy ship Yuan Wang-5 at Sri Lankan port, PMK founder S Ramadoss on Wednesday urged the Centre to strengthen defence infrastructure in south India.

For the debt obtained, Sri Lanka had given Hambantota port to China on lease for 99 years and the news that China is going to stack its war ships in Hambantota port is shocking. The entry of Yuan Wang-5, which has raised doubts of Indian establishments being spied on, it is time the Centre strengthened the defence establishments in south India, said Ramadoss in a statement.

He also said that China had been trying to strengthen its naval presence across the Arabian Sea as recently the neighbour established its first naval base outside in Djibouti.

China had also obtained consent from Pakistan to use its Karachi port. To extend its presence in the Indian Ocean, China had been initiating efforts to establish a naval base in Cambodia, Seychelles and Mauritius, but could not do so and finally managed to get Hambantota port.

China has one of the strongest navies in the world with 355 warships and submarines and if they started queuing up in Sri Lanka it would be a huge threat to south India as a whole, added Ramadoss.